Artists Sir Grayson Perry and Maggi Hambling among Labour donors

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Artists, philanthropists and businesspeople were among the notable donors to UK political parties in the first quarter of the year.

Sir Grayson Perry added £180,000 to Labour’s war chest, according to Electoral Commission data released on Thursday.

The Turner Prize-winning artist and broadcaster, known for his tapestries, ceramic works and cross-dressing, made the payment to Sir Keir Starmer’s party in January.

Fellow artist Maggi Hambling, famed for her expressionist paintings and often controversial public sculptures, handed £85,000 to Labour in the same month.

The Tories have come under fire for accepting another £5 million from Frank Hester, the businessman accused of saying Labour veteran Diane Abbott “should be shot”.

Rishi Sunak’s party took the cash from the healthcare software firm boss in January, before he became embroiled in a row over the alleged racist comments.

Mr Hester was by far the Tories’ biggest donor in the first quarter, with the extra £5 million taking his total donations to £15 million.

The Conservatives’ next biggest backer was Sir Peter Wood, the founder of telephone insurer Direct Line, who gave the party £500,000.

Billionaire businessman Lord Hintze, who founded the London-based CQS hedge fund group, and former Tory deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft, each added £50,000 to the party’s coffers.

Greek businessman and investor Sokratis Kominakis, who is a minority shareholder in Nottingham Forest, and Richard Harpin, founder of home repairs company HomeServe and review website Checkatrade, were also among the Tory donors.

Meanwhile, Labour accepted another £1.5 million from major donor Dale Vince’s company Ecotricity.

The green energy industrialist courted controversy over his previous donations to climate group Just Stop Oil, which he halted last year.

The Liberal Democrats accepted £250,000 from venture philanthropist Stephen Dawson and over £200,000 from a franchisee of video games retailer CeX, Safwan Adam.

Electoral Commission data released on Thursday showed parties raised more than £22.9 million in donations and public funds in the first three months of 2024, up from £20.9 million in the same period in 2023.

The donations were collected before the General Election was called on May 22. There is a three-month delay before they are made public by the Commission.